Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stock Holdings Cut by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 41.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,858 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 10,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 10,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 117,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,542,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.11.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.66. The stock had a trading volume of 5,567,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,469,311. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $92.29 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.61.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.